Lighting fixture



May 26, 1970 H. A. J. DE vos LIGHTING FIXTURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 OriginalFiled Nov. 18, 1965 HENDRIK de VOS I N VEN'I OR.

W M, ATTORNEY H. A. J. DE VOS LIGHTING FIXTURE May 26, 197.0

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Nov. 18, 1965 HENDRIK de VOS INVEN'IOR.

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,514,591 LIGHTING FIXTURE Henrik A. J.deVos, Wenham, Mass., assignor to Sylvania Electric Products Inc., acorporation of Delaware Original application Nov. 18, 1965, Ser. No.508,453, now Patent No. 3,403,250, dated Sept. 24, 1968. Divided andthis application Dec. 19, 1967, Ser. No. 691,839 Int. Cl. F21v 21/14 US.Cl. 240--52 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A lighting fixture foradjustable attachment to a pole, the fixture having an extruded armextending from the lamp and a refractor to an adjustable mounting plateon the pole; the adjustment can be made by an arm having a handle. Thereis a hinged cover on the bottom of the arm, the hinge being at the endof the cover farthest from the mounting plate, the other end of thecover being attachable to the mounting plate.

This invention relates to lighting fixtures and more particularly tooutdoor fixtures mountable on poles or other structures. Thisapplication is a division of my copending application Ser. No. 508,453,filed Nov. 18, 1965, now Pat. No. 3,403,250 for an improvement in alighting fixture.

Outdoor lighting fixtures mounted on poles, building walls or otherstructures are widely employed for illuminatinghighways, parking areas,and the like. It is increasingly important that these fixtures beestlietically appealing yet functionally suited to easy installation andmaintenance. Moreover, withtheincreasing use of outdoor lighting, it isimportant to have a variety of fixture sizes to suitparticularinstallation requirements. Present fixtures, because of theirconstruction, are available in only a few sizes and are too expensive tofabricate in additional sizes. Furthermore, many of them are unsightlyin appearance and awkward to install and maintain in operation.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide anoutdoor lighting fixture which lends itself to inexpensive fabricationin almost any practical size and which also provides ease ofinstallation and maintenance as well as attractive appearance.

Briefly, the invention comprises a fixture having an adjustable mountingplate to facilitate alignment of the fixture during installation, and anextruded arm extending outwardly therefrom to secure the lamp assembly.Because of the extruded construction, the fixture arm can be fabricatedto any length to suit the particular application, thereby affording agreat number of fixture sizes not economically feasible withconventional units having cast or stamped structures. Moreover, the lampballast, electrical connectors and other electrical equipment aremounted within the extruded arm on a removable cover to achieve a cleanesthetic look, yet providing easy access to the equipment for repair andinstallation.

The invention will be more fully understood from the following detaileddescription, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is an elevation view of a lighting fixture according to theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a pictorial view of the cam assembly taken along lines 22 ofFIG. 3;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the mounting plate, taken along lines 33 ofFIG. 1;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are elevation views, partly cut away, of the mountingplate in two positions of alignment; and

3,514,591 Patented May 26, 1970 FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of thefixture arm, taken along lines 6-6 of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG.1, there is shown a fixture including an adjustablemounting plate 10 attached to a supporting structure such as a pole 12,and an elongated arm -14 secured at one end to plate 10, and supportingat its distal end a lamp assembly 16. The distal end 18 of the elongatedarm is bent with respect to the remainder of the arm to support the lampassembly in a horizontal position which is determined by the adjustablemounting plate, in a manner to be explained. A photoelectric sensor 20is also attached to this end of the arm and is operative to switch onthe lamp when the ambient light intensity falls below a predeterminedlevel.

The lamp ballast and other electrical apparatus is mounted within arm 14near the mounting plate on a removable cover 22 which is hinged to thearm at the end nearest the lamp assembly and secured to the mountingplate by a thumbscrew 23 or other suitable fastener which screws into athreaded hole 25 provided in plate 10 (FIG. 4). The relatively heavyballast is preferably mounted as near to mounting plate 10 as feasibleto reduce the mechanical loading on arm 14. The cover hinge 15 is fittedwith a spring which is operative to prevent the cover from swingingbeyond a fixed position to thereby prevent damage to the lamp assemblyon shorter fixture arms if the cover, with the heavy ballast attachedthereto, is accidentally dropped while being opened. This spring caneither be integral with the hinge or can be separate therefrom. Forreasons of safety, the cover is provided with an electrical disconnectto de-energize the supply voltage when the cover is opened. Repair tothe electrical apparatus can, therefore, be readily made in safety byopening the cover to expose the apparatus. If extensive repairs arerequired, or if it is desired to replace the ballast or other equipment,the cover containing this equipment is easily removed and anotherreplaced in its stead without disturbing the fixture alignment. Suchreplacement is facilitated by a demountable hinge of well known typewhich allows simple removal of cover 22 from arm 14. Repair andreplacement of the ballast and related equipment is accomplished in amanner not possible with conventional fixture designs wherein theballast is bolted to the mounting plate or contained within the lampassembly. In these conventional designs the fixture must be disassembledat least partially to gain access to the ballast. The present design, asdescribed hereinabove, provides quick access to the ballast merely byopening cover 22; the fixture itself remaining undisturbed and inalignment.

To expedite alignment of the fixture during installation, a levelingadjustment is provided in mounting plate 10 comprising a cylindrical cam28 and a lever 30 integral therewith, together with a curved surface 32On the side of the mounting plate abutting the supporting pole As bestseen in FIG. 2, moving lever 30 about the cylindrical axis of the camcauses the cam to move axially. The camming surface 34 is ridged, as isthe mating surface of the mounting plate, so that at any given seetingthe cam will not slip. T 0 install the fixture, it is first looselyattached to the pole via a bolt 36 which passes through an openingprovided for the purpose in mounting plate 10 as seen in FIG. 3. Thehorizontal alignment of the lamp assembly is easily adjusted by movinglever 30 and hence cam 28 to the desired location thereby causingmounting plate 10 to roll on its curved surface 32 to accommodate itselfto the spacing set by the cam. The horizontal alignment of end portion18 of arm 14 is thereby adjusted by the disposition of mounting plate 10relative to the mounting structure. A second bolt 38 is then insertedthrough a cylindrical opening in cam 28 and fastened to the pole tocomplete the assembly. FIGS.

4 and 5 illustrate the mounting plate in two diiferent positions, inFIG. 4 the cam is in its closed position causing the plate to liedirectly against the mounting pole, while in FIG. 5 the cam is extendedthereby moving the bottom portion of plate away from the pole and thetop portion towards the pole. In this manner, the fixture arm is causedto swing in an arc to ascertain the required aligned position.

An additional feature of this fixture is the use of an extended arm ofpropitious cross-section to support the lamp assembly. By use of theextruding process, the arm can be made to any desired length without thenecessity of costly casting molds or stamping dies such as used tomanufacture conventional fixtures. The extruded arm is of generallyrectangular shape and can be fabricated in either a single piece or intwo mating sections such as illustrated in FIG. 6. As seen in FIG. 6,the arm is composed of a first U-shaped member 40 having a channel 42 oneach edge to accept a corresponding tongue 44 on a second U-shapedmember 46. Projections 48, 49 and 50 provide mechanical rigidity andadded strength to the arm. The rectangular channel, formed by one sideof member 40 and projections 56 and 55, is designed to accept flange 58to secure the arm to mounting plate 10, and also provides mounting spacefor the electrical equipment so that no hardware need show exterior ofthe fixture arm. In this manner, the clean aspect of the fixture is notmarred by unsightly protuberances.

To fabricate the arm, an extruded member 40 of the required length isassembled with mating member 46 and the assembled arm is bent on one endto provide for horizontal mounting of the lamp assembly. The arm is thenattached to mounting plate 10 by means of flange 58 and bolt 36 and isready for installation and alignment as described hereinbefore.

From the foregoing, it is evident that a lighting fixture has beenprovided which is easily installed and maintained, which has anattractive appearance and which can be economically fabricated in agreat variety of sizes. The invention is not to be limited by what hasbeen particularly shown and described, except as indicated in theappended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A lighting fixture comprising a lamp assembly, an

adjustable mounting plate having a convex surface adapted to abut amounting structure and adjustable means operative to vary the spacingbetween said mounting plate and mounting structure, an elongatedextruded arm of generally rectangular cross-section and having aproximal end attached to said mounting plate and a distal end attachedto said lamp assembly, said proximal end having an open portion, and anelongated cover dimensioned to enclose said open portion said coverbeing pivotally attached to said arm by a spring loaded hinge at the endof said cover nearest said lamp assembly, said cover being removablyfastened at the other end to said mounting plate.

2. A light fixture comprising a lamp assembly, an adjustable mountingplate having a convex surface adapted to abut a mounting structure andadjustable means operative to vary the spacing between said mountingplate and mounting structure, an elongated extruded arm of generallyrectangular cross-section and having a proximal end attached to saidmounting plate and a distal end attached to said lamp assembly, saidproximal end having an open portion, and an elongated cover dimensionedto enclose said open portion said cover being pivotally attached to saidarm by a spring loaded hinge at the end of said cover nearest said lampassembly, said cover being removably fastened at the other end to saidmounting plate, a flange of rectangular cross-section extending fromsaid mounting plate, and a rectangular channel formed in said extrudedarm and engaging said flange.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,767,585 6/1930 Hebendahl248-221 3,264,465 8/1966 Rex 2.40-25 FOREIGN PATENTS 239,826 7/1962Australia.

NORTON ANSHER, Primary Examiner J. F. PETERS, 111., Assistant ExaminerUS. Cl. X.R.

